Tĕn'an-çy, n.

n. [O. Fr. tenance, Sp. tenencia, L. Lat. tenentia, tenantia.] (Law.) (a.) A holding, or a mode of holding, an estate; tenure; the temporary possession of what belongs to another. (b.) (O. Eng. Law.) A house for habitation, or place to live in, held of another. Blount. Blackstone. Wharton.